What We Know About Bob Saget's Recent COVID-19 Diagnosis

The unexpected death of comedian Bob Saget came as a shock to his family, friends, and fans. TMZ broke the news that the actor died January 9 at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Orlando, Florida at age 65. "I'm not ready to accept that he's gone – I'm not going to say goodbye yet," Saget's "Full House" co-star John Stamos wrote on Instagram. Candace Cameron Bure, Saget's onscreen "Full House" daughter, echoed Stamos' sentiments about Saget being gone too soon in a separate post. "I don't want to say goodbye," she wrote. "35 years wasn't long enough." Saget's autopsy revealed that no foul play or drugs were involved, but his official cause of death is yet to be determined.

Prior to his death, Saget was on a comedy tour. "I'm happily addicted to this s*** again," Saget wrote on Twitter after his last show in Jacksonville. An audience member spoke to People about Saget appearing in good health and spirits on the tour stop, sharing that he joked about comedians being the "fourth responders" behind EMTs, doctors and public servants to the COVID-19 pandemic. "'We got to come here and make you feel good about all that stuff happened to you,'" the show-goer quoted Saget. "Obviously, he could tell the jokes better, but he really saw it as his mission to bring people together through laughs. It meant a lot to him."

A week before his death, Saget revealed on a podcast that he had previously had (and recovered from) COVID.

Bob Saget talked about his experience with coronavirus on the "A Corporate Time with Tom & Dan" podcast a week before his death.

"It's very popular, it's doing very well," Saget said jokingly of the Omicron virus variant during his January 5 episode, per Page Six. Saget confirmed he had recovered, sharing, "It is not good, it does not feel good." TMZ pointed out Saget didn't say when he got COVID, but his comments pointed to the recent past as he discussed the new variants. "I don't know if I had Delta or ... I might have had a combo," Saget said. "Maybe at one point they [Delta and Omicron] were working together."

Saget used his signature humor on social media to make light of the COVID-19 pandemic, which he appeared to take very seriously when lockdown started in 2020. Saget shared a photo to Instagram from a socially distanced, masked meet-up with a friend and his wife Kelly Rizzo in June 2020, writing, "Fun was had by all, nine feet apart. Kelly and I didn't even change our normal habits — We wear masks 24/7 even in bed. She says it 'adds mystery.'" Saget also participated in a lockdown spoof of "Full House" with his co-stars called "Full Quarantine" on Instagram in April 2020. "Stay Safe and Stay Home," Saget wrote, adding, "Unlike #FullHouse this will all go away."